The Past and Politics of Mr. X

On Halloween, 1976, when I was a dumb-ass little punk of 12, busy getting plastered on Black Velvet and kicking in Jack-O-Lanterns throughout suburbia, John Doe had just completed the coast-to-coast drive from Baltimore to L.A. Seeking the thriving poetry scene in Venice, Doe ended his 3,000-mile pilgrimage there and soon met Exene Cervenka at a Beyond Baroque poetry workshop. At the risk of throwing the obvious at you, the two formed the band X, along with "Rockabilly heartthrob," Billy Zoom, and DJ Broombrake. By mid-1978, X had released its first single, "Adult Books / We’re Desperate," and became visible as one of the most important components of the LA punk rock scene.

The following year, the band was attracting sell-out crowds at the select few clubs in LA that were progressive enough to book punk billings. The band drew the attention of Slash Records, signed a record deal with the label and released its debut album, Los Angeles, in 1980. The piece immediately forced music critics to respectfully assess and pay props to a type of music they had previously disparaged as little more than Leftist noise — American punk rock. No, X was by no means the first L.A. punk band, but they were arguably the first band from that pool to establish credibility as well as a reputation as one of those rare unions of musicians — like The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and The Sex Pistols before them — that was capable of creating a sound that would change the way people perceive rock music.

The quartet moved from small to large venues in seemingly no time. I remember seeing them at small clubs like the Whiskey A-Go-Go, but within a matter of months, they were headlining at the Santa Monica Civic. Put into Chico context, that’s like going from playing at Stormy’s to headlining at the Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre. This was a necessary and natural, yet risky move, when you consider that playing arena-type venues can sometimes take the punk out of punk rock. But, this wasn’t the case here — X continued to generate and convey high energy, and, moreover, were able to exchange that energy with audiences that were no longer just inches from them in an intimate environment.

While the band gained momentum at the proverbial snowballing rate, radio airplay soared accordingly over the next couple of years. KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer was the only one around who was bold and bright enough to play material off Los Angeles immediately after its release in 1980. Following the release of Under The Big Black Sun two years later, you’d turn on KROQ at anytime day or night and within an hour or so, Hungry Wolf, Motel Room In My Bed or some other song from the record would be blaring out of your radio speaker.

While each individual member of the band obviously possessed immense talent, Doe was the thrust behind X (Yeah, you could make a pitch for Exene’s vocals, Zoom’s licks and stances or DJ’s sense of power and meter, but Doe was and is the man, trust me). His lyrics serve as a tangible response to the question of what would have been the outcome if Johnny Cash and Neal Cassady had sat down and created poetry together. His stage presence, with one foot propped up on the stage monitor while he spills buckets of sweat all over his bass, is magnetic, to put it mildly. Yet, his smooth, pristine and deep voice is his most impressive gift.

Beyond music, this guy truly gives a fuck about people. He demonstrated this personal attribute throughout the following interview. This might not impress some people, but when you consider that rock stars today come in the forms of misogynous, brainless fuckheads like Eminem and Kid Rock, Doe emerges as an old-school, ethically-minded savior. During our conversation, his passion increased whenever we discussed a topic concerning the wellbeing of others. Of course, he was willing to address his life as a musician or poet, but he grew more animated or enraged as we covered more politically substantial areas like the West Memphis Three or George W. Bush.

I don’t know. I’m miles from it. I’m calling from home — I live off of the Grapevine, up above the beautiful San Joaquin Valley.

All God’s children got to rock…I mean, I don’t care who comes, just as long as people come. The better people come with an open mind and they don’t maintain the attitude of a music Nazi — but that doesn’t happen too much. X people are usually pretty forgiving and open-minded.

Yes.

It’s like everything else — it’s got its good and bad points. With the guitar, if you want to get quiet really fast — you just stop playing. Bass players really can’t stop playing, with a three-piece. If everyone is playing well, it can be so concise and sweet.

I play a free guitar from Epiphone — an acoustic with a cutaway that I’m not too worried about losing or breaking. As for the model, I don’t know — it’s got some numbers. I use ‘60s Guild electrics, which are the bomb.

I own a hollow-body, but I tour with this solid-body that looks like a Stratocaster. It’s called a Pollera, with single-coil pick-ups — it’s the bomb.

Dave Way and I would do three or four tracks at a time, when we had time — he’s in demand as a producer. It took two-and-a-half years to do the entire record. In about five days, we would do three to five songs, top to bottom. Because we did it at his house, we had the luxury of going back and fixing stuff, which we didn’t do a lot of, but a little.

I donated the track and am talking about it to anyone who wants to listen.

No, it’ll be out in September or October on Aces & Eights.

No, I don’t mind…Do you know anything about the West Memphis Three?

There are two documentaries that might be available on video—they were initially on HBO. One’s called Paradise Lost, and it came out about four years ago. The newer one was released about six months ago. Anyway, the situation and the circumstances surrounding it are dumbfounding. You just cannot believe that this is happening to the U.S. — not that the U.S. is necessarily a bastion for granting individual civil liberties. It’s just fucked up, it’s so fucked up. You just can’t believe these guys were sent away.

It wasn’t that they were lazy. The three were outcasts and nobody liked them. They came from trailer-park world and didn’t have the resources to defend themselves. It was convenient and the prosecution brought in the name of Satan and suddenly everyone went crazy. But, all of the evidence, even the botched trail, made it clear that they couldn’t have done it. One of the kids has the eye I.Q. of 72 and he’s the one who confessed and implicated the other two after ten hours of interrogation by the police — and they only recorded the last forty-five minutes of the interview. They had obviously bullied and coached him to the point where they got the statement they wanted — then they used it in court. I mean, this kid with the 72 I.Q. has roughly a second-grade education and he was scared to death. They used his confession as one of the primary pieces of evidence. Anyway, it’s going to be a good record — L7’s on it, Eddie Vedder and Supersuckers do an X song.

They did "Poor Girl." I did a track that Exene and I wrote, not for the record, but, it had been in existence. This is going to be cool. Back to the old days…two questions on the old days [laughing on both ends of the phone]. That’s what you said, you can play it back if you want to.

Oh, yes.

Yup, I left Baltimore at the end of ’76. Prior to that, I had co-run a poetry reading series. Poets from all over the East Coast participated. I was pretty tied in with the D.C. poetry scene, which was pretty big then. I had gone to Antioch College and studied writing. Antioch had a branch in Baltimore.

At that point, Patty Smith, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop — right then, there had been a bunch before. As far as writers, Charles Bukowski, a lot of French writers, William Carlos Williams, e.e. cummings, John Ashbury and a lot of New York poets, Frank O’ Hara.

But, a lot of other people did. They obviously overrode our desires.

Scandinavia and Italy. I have such an affinity for Italy because it’s a lot like Southern California, which I think is pretty cool. Italy just gets it — they get life. Denmark and Sweden — which are places we were most — maintain societies where people just want to help other people. They don’t have these ridiculous ideas about drugs, prostitution and sex. The societies aren’t as puritanical as ours.

I just hope that George W. Bush doesn’t get into the White House, not that I think Gore is any less corporate, but, he’s part of the old school that believes that people with privilege help people without privilege. I think George W. Bush doesn’t feel that way. He’s privileged and he feels that anyone can succeed if they want to — and I sort of agree with that — but, some people can’t obtain privilege because they don’t have the opportunity or will and need assistance.

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